linsang

[ lin-sang ]

noun

1. any of several civetlike carnivores of the genera Prionodon, of the East Indies, and Poiana, of Africa, having retractile claws and a long tail: some East Indies linsangs are endangered.

linsang

/ ˈlɪnsæŋ /

noun

1. any of several forest-dwelling viverrine mammals, Poiana richardsoni of W Africa or either of the two species of Prionodon of S Asia: closely related to the genets, having a very long tail and a spotted or banded coat of thick fur

Word History and Origins

Origin of linsang¹

First recorded in 1880–85, linsang is from the Javanese word lingsang

Word History and Origins

Origin of linsang¹

C19: Malay

Example Sentences

An animal I’m obsessed with is: the linsang, which looks almost like a cat but has this weird long neck.

From Wall Street Journal

Two other genera, Helictis, an aberrant badger, and linsang, an aberrant civet, are representatives of Malayan types.

From Project Gutenberg

To see whether other carnivores also lack sweet receptors, Beauchamp and his team collected DNA from 12 members of the order Carnivora, including spotted hyenas, a cat-like creature from Madagascar called a fossa, a civet called a banded linsang and several species of sea mammal.

From Scientific American

The Linsang or Prionodon is a very cat-like animal, which was once classed with the Felidæ; the body is long and slender; the limbs very short; fur soft, close and erect, very richly coloured and spotted with black; the grinders are tubercular; claws retractile; soles furred; tail long, cylindrical, and ringed with black; no sub-caudal pouch.

From Project Gutenberg

The family contains the Civet, Genette, Linsang, Suricate, Binturong and Mongoose, though this last is separated by Jerdon, who follows Blyth.

From Project Gutenberg